Although some states and cities have passed laws to ban texting and  using handheld phones while driving, there is no current law to ban all  cell phone use while driving. However, according to the National Safety  Council (2009), 28 percent of all crashes—1.6 million per year—are  caused by cell phone use and texting by drivers. The mission of a new  national nonprofit organization called FocusDriven, patterned after  Mothers Against Drunk Driving, is to make phone use while driving as  illegal and socially unacceptable as drunk driving. US Transportation  Secretary Ray LaHood supports FocusDriven and its efforts.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, LaHood said that  this movement would become “an army of people traveling the countryside”  to push for bans on cell-phone use and tough enforcement (Schmitz,  2010). As a political advocate interested in this issue, you will be  writing a policy proposal that utilizes the current research to propose a  solution to the issue and submitting it in Module 5.

Annotated Bibliography: Effect of Cell Phone Use 

Before you can write this proposal research, you will need to conduct  initial research on the science behind this initiative. For this  assignment, use the Argosy University online library resources to locate  research reports from peer-reviewed journals that discuss the effects  of cell phone use on vision, attention, perception, or memory. In  selecting at least five research reports from peer-reviewed journals  relevant to the topic, make sure they address one or more of the  following issues:

• How do texting, handheld phones, and hands-free phones compare with each other in their effects on driving?
• How do other, traditional distractions compare to cell phone use in  their effects on driving (such as eating, attending to children, talking  to passengers, listening to music/news, etc.)?
• Can cell phone use while driving be compared with drunk driving? Why or why not?
• What other variables (such as age) can affect driving while using a cell phone?

Based on your reading of the five articles, create an annotated  bibliography for each of the five sources. Each annotation should  consist of the APA reference entry followed by a paragraph-long summary  of the articles. In your summary, provide answers for the questions  below. For the last question, think about how the research results could  be generalized to fit other environments or not be generalized.

• Summarize the main ideas in the reference. What were they investigating?
• How were the studies conducted? What was the sample size? Is it appropriate?
• Were the studies conducted in the real world or was a simulated environment used?
• How might these methodological considerations affect the research  findings and the conclusions drawn from them? How does this article fit  in with your paper? How did it influence your own ideas about your  paper?

Your annotated bibliography should be at 3–4 pages in length. Download the annotated bibliography template. This document will help you complete your paper more successfully.

Be sure to include a title page and reference page listing your  articles. Use the following file naming convention:  LastnameFirstInitial_M4_A2.doc.

 

This unit will focus on how counselors assess their clients during the initial stages of the counseling process. How will you gather the information that will assist in describing the client’s presenting issues; current level of functioning; strengths and limitations; risk factors; characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving; and possible areas for focus in the counseling process? Much of this information may come from a structured initial interview or biopsychosocial assessment, which frequently occurs during the first intake session. Counselors also use more formal types of assessments in early sessions, such as a mental status exam, depression/anxiety inventories, symptom checklists, or other self-report measures.

 

Having familiarity with the range of assessment instruments and processes available to counselors and understanding when they can be used to produce reliable and valid information to assist in the counseling process are important parts of professional development. Your site supervisor can discuss your current fieldwork site’s approach to assessment and may also be able to provide more information about the way other agencies or practitioners in your area approach using methods to assess clients, track their progress, and evaluate therapy outcomes.

 

Objectives

 

To successfully complete this learning unit, you will be expected to:

 

1.      Review various assessment tools designed to address specific disorders.

 

2.      Identify the strengths and limitations of assessment tools.

 

3.      Gauge the effectiveness of selected assessment tools in soliciting client data and facilitating interaction.

 

4.      Discuss cultural characteristics that impact the selection and application of assessment tools.

 

I have selected the Beck Depression Inventory for this paper.

 

Utilize one or more specific methods of assessment with a client you are working with at your fieldwork site. Ask your site supervisor to assist you in selecting an assessment that is appropriate for your client and that is currently used at your site (such as the Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory, mental status exam, biopsychosocial assessment, ecomap, genogram, or another developed assessment instrument).

 

 

 

 

 

If your fieldwork site does not use any methods for a formal evaluation process with clients, select at least one assessment tool that you believe would be appropriate for your client, and discuss its use with your site supervisor.  A structured interview, biopsychosocial assessment, and genogram are less intrusive methods of assessment than using a developed instrument and should be discussed as possibilities with the site supervisor. Once you have permission from your supervisor to use this assessment method, set up a time to administer it with your client.

 

After you have collected client, couple, or family data using the various assessment tools given to you by your agency or organization (as well as any other assessment tool from your readings, with your site supervisor’s approval), synthesize, summarize, and write your assessment of the client, in a 3–4 page paper that:

 

5.      Offers a brief description of your client, couple, or family, omitting any personally identifying information.

 

6.      Describes the rationale for using these particular assessment forms (that is, agency policy, diagnostic clarification, and so on).

 

7.      Gauges the effectiveness of selected assessment tools in soliciting client data and facilitating interaction.

 

8.      Identifies the strengths and limitations of assessment tools.

 

9.      Discusses cultural characteristics that impact the selection and application of assessment tools.

 

10.Identifies the limitations of these tools in gathering data and building the helping relationship.